I woke up in a large bed. It was far more comfortable than any bed I had ever slept in before. I looked to see a fire blazing away on the opposite end of the room and a window above the bed. The only other thing I could see in the room was a door to the left.
What had happened last night? All I could remember was taking cover in that cold stone building. How did I get here?
My thoughts were interrupted by the door opening and a woman walked in. She was dressed like the women from shrines I had seen in Japan, but her looks were like that of the beautiful women I remembered from my home in Hawaii. In fact, I felt like I had known her from before but then again, she had that look that a lot of women had. Still how was she here in the mountains of Korea?
"How are we feeling sleepy head?" She said with a teasing look.
"Pardon me… um I was…" I rambled.
"Shoosh now." She placed her hand on my head and I felt very relaxed. "No fever, you seem just fine. Give me a minute and I'll get some tea. I know that you must be hungry but it's important you don't eat just yet or you might get an upset stomach."
She was gone and returned with the tea in a flash. I was quick to accept it and drink. It was an herbal tea that warmed my chest, and the warmth worked its way down to my fingers and toes. The initial satisfaction soon brought on hunger, but I knew from my time in the service that she was right, and it was important to take it slow with eating.
"Ma'am I can't thank you enough for this, but after you give me a meal I should probably leave. I would hate for the Chinese to find you taking care of me here."
"Nonsense." She scolded. "It's too dangerous to leave while you're in such a weak state. If you leave, you'll succumb to the cold long before your enemies find you." She seemed really motherly to me which helped reduce my anxiety.
"If you are willing to take that risk. I am willing to wait for a few weeks. Hopefully the Chinese will be forced back across the border by then. I swear I'll let nothing bad happen to you." I said confidently.
Her happy demeanor was replaced by a stern look. "On the contrary Erickson, if anyone hostile comes here it is I they should fear."
"You know my name?" I said confused.
"Your coat had your name in it, but I know not your first name other than it begins with a C."
Of course, she must have seen inside my coat when she took it off. "It's Charlie." I replied.
"Lilith." She said with another tender smile.
"Nice to meet you Lilith. I hate to appear nosey but what's a young woman like you doing all the way out here?" I asked.
"Oh, it's a long story." She said dismissively. "I will tell you about how I came to be here after you have rested a bit."
"Well how many others are here?" I pressed.
"I'm here alone, again I will tell you the details later." She pushed me back onto the pillow and pulled the blanket back over my torso.
I was initially confused and about to protest but soon fell into a deep sleep.
When I woke again Lilith was there to greet me with food on a tray. On the platter was what looked like fried shrimp with white rice on the side. I recognized it quickly as tempura like I had seen in Japan. My mouth watered and after savoring the first bite I was quick to wolf down the rest.
I looked up to see Lilith staring at me and I was quick to excuse myself. "Thanks for the food ma'am, forgive my manners I was just so hungry."
"Please call me Lilith. I'm happy you enjoyed my food, but please remember not to eat so fast."
She seemed to scold me like my mother. In fact, she seemed very mothering and very mature. I felt slightly intimidated by her. I feared she would brand me as childish.
"You are very kind Lilith I hate to be a strain on you. Maybe it would be better if…" I was interrupted again.
"You are doing a great service to my country it's the least I can do for you." She said warmly.
Thank God she was an anticommunist. Still, what if this was really too good to be true? She seemed insistent on keeping me here. What if she was waiting for the North Koreans or Chinese to come?
"You seem uneasy Charlie. What's on your mind? You can tell me."
Had she really seen right through me? I scrambled to think about what to say. "I'm surrounded by my enemies and my friends may very well be dead. It's hard for me to relax despite your hospitality."
"I promise nothing will happen to you. Is there anything that I can do to make you more comfortable?" She asked caringly.
I felt something soft press against my leg. I looked down to see what it was but saw nothing. After turning back to the girl, I saw her face had turned red as if I had embarrassed her.
"Is everything ok Lilith?" I asked trying to understand what was going on.
"I'm fine. What about you?" She replied.
"Are you sure there's no where I can get out of the mountains and escape to the coast?"
"Charlie there's no reason to be afraid. The snow from last night has made the path you came up last night impassable. No one can come here, no one can leave."
The knots in my stomach unraveled slightly. I supposed it wouldn't be the worst thing to be trapped with a girl in a mountainside sanctuary. "Perhaps you can show me around then?"
"Of course, Charlie."
She allowed me to go back to the bedroom and grab my coat and boots and then she brought me to the entrance of the building. Outside in the morning light it was grey because of an overcast. Outside was a courtyard covered in snow. We both went down the stone steps of the main building and out into the middle of the complex. The crunching of the snow quickly followed by the chilling of my feet. My hands also got cold fast and I began to rub them together. I wished to go back inside but tried not to show my discomfort to Lilith.
Once we stopped in the middle of the complex, I had a quick look around. To my left was a path where there was a torii gate similar in shape to those I had seen in Japan. Its dark, stony appearance made it look as if it had been carved out of the mountain. On the right was a modest shack of Japanese architecture, it had to be the worship building. I noticed another path above the complex which went up to the mountain top above. Straight ahead was a small overhang which she led me to first. Underneath the overhang was a trough with two wooden ladles at either side. I was stunned at what I saw. I recognized what this was but the water inside was in a liquid state. How was it not frozen?
"This is the Temizuya station where visitors purify themselves before going up to the worship hall." Said Lilith. "This is the first thing visitors go to after passing through the Torri."
I looked at her and saw she had the matter a factly look of a typical tour guide. "How is the water not frozen?" I asked confused.
She gave an excited look. "The reason the shrine was built in the first place was that it's on a hot spring. Water from the hot spring is allowed to flow beneath the purification chamber so everyone can purify themselves year-round."
I looked at the stone base beneath the trough and touched it, finding it quite warm. It was an ingenious solution. I picked up the ladle on the right.
"Oh, it's much too cold right now." Said Lilith alarmed. "I don't want you to catch a cold."
She was indeed right but I wanted to impress her with my knowledge of Japanese culture. "It's alright I wouldn't want to desecrate the shrine after all."
I picked up the ladle and dipped it into the water and rinsed both hands, then bought some of the water up to my mouth before spitting it out. I then pointed the spoon up into the air allowing the rest of the water to drain out before placing it back. I immediately regretted my actions, and my hands froze up.
Lilith produced a rag, wiped my mouth, and dried my hands. "You know you forgot to rinse your left hand again after you brought the water to your mouth." She said with a chuckle.
I felt like I was back in high school all over again. This girl was far too smart to do anything hasty around. I immediately laughed off my embarrassment. "Well, I was only in Japan five years it's not like I'm an expert on everything about their way of life."
She nodded. "You don't have to show off to me I think you're alright."
Now she was just pitying me. I had to redeem myself one way or another, perhaps I could come up with some topic that I was more knowledgeable in to talk about, but for now I would let her lead me around and I would eat of her hands. "So, what's next?" I tried to seem as eager as possible.
She tucked the rag back in her robe. "Well for starters why don't you put on some gloves before your hands dry out?"
I reached into my coat pockets and pulled out my old green gloves putting them on. It was an instant relief, they felt warm after being in my pockets the entire time, and the traumatic feeling of dousing myself in water had passed.
She next led me up me up the pathway to the worship hall. After going up the stone steps we paused a moment. The dark wood of the hall looked nearly black in the grey light. It was far less ornate than those I had seen in Japan although the curved roof was reminiscent of Japanese architecture. On the right side of the shrine was the door with an iron handle and to the left was a stone box with the carving of a swan in flight on it. The top of the box looked like it had an eave vent on it.
I recognized it as the offering box. "Oh wait." I took off my right glove, unzipped my coat, and began to feel around in my pockets.
"Didn't we already go over doing things like this in the winter?" said Lilith with a sigh.
"Just hold on a minute." After reaching in my third pocket, I felt cold metal and pulled out the contents. I looked at my hand holding up five coins. An American dime and penny along with three Japanese coins. I pulled out the larger of the three coins which was golden in color with the image of rice in water on it. I excitedly held it up.
"What is that?" said Lilith unamused.
I felt deflated. "It's a five-yen coin. Isn't that normally what you use for an offering at a shrine?"
"They make those coins with holes in them now?" She said disgusted.
There was a large hole right in the middle of the coin I had forgotten that it was different than the older coins she would have been more familiar with. "Yea uhm… It's a newer coin that they made last year unfortunately I don't have any of the older coins with me."
She looked and nodded. "Best for you to throw it into the center of the box for better luck." She then stepped aside being careful not to turn her back to the shrine.
I threw to coin into the box and bowed twice. I then clapped twice before bowing one more time and then turned to Lilith.
"Not bad." She said somewhat impressed.
I then remembered that this was the very building I had broken into the night before. How I had not seen the larger office building on the right baffled me, the storm must have been really blinding. Inside the worship hall must have been the shrine god and I had clearly desecrated it by going inside. "I don't suppose I can ask forgiveness for going inside there last night?" I said sheepishly.
Thankfully she was quick to reassure me. "It was not your fault; you were desperate and practically dead. Besides you coming here is more important than you know."
"What do you mean by that?" I said confused.
"Why don't we go back into the main building and warm up for a bit. We can continue this conversation inside." She turned and walked back down the steps and I followed close behind.